Corset stay



Jufiy 8 1924.

R. TOVE CORSET STAY Filed May 31 1922 IN V EN TOR. f

A T-TORNEYS.

Patented July 8, 1924.

" omrso stares imam Parsur OFFHCE.

YRIVEN TOVE, orsourrr NoRWALK, oonunorroor.

Application fi 1ed may at,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, RIVEN TovE, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at South Norwalk, county of Fairfield, Stateof Connecticut, have invented an Improvement in Corset Stays, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to corsets and par-. ticularly to the stays orstiffening elements therefor. j V I It is an object of the inventiontoprovide a stay or stiflening element which will have a tip or endwhich is flexible and which will yield under pressure bothlongitudinally of the stay and transversely thereof as the wearer bendsbut will return to the'original position immediately the wearerstraightens. It is also an object of the invention to pro vide astiffening element in which the probability of injuring the wearer isvery remote and also one in which the ends will not tend to forcethrough the cloth of the corset tearing the same and also injuring thewearer. It is a further object of the invention to provide a stiffeningelement which is not liable to breakage and so will reduce liability ofinjury to the wearer. It is a still further object of the invention toprovide a spring tip for corset stays and clasp steels that will adjustitself to the figure of the wearergiving the proper and desired effectwithout danger of injury or annoyance and which at the same time holdsthe corset in proper position without wrinkling the material. 7

With these and other objects in view I have devised the constructionillustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a plan viewof a section of a corset showing my stifl'ening element applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is aside view of the stiffening element removed.

Fig. 3 is an edge view thereof.

Fig. 4 is an edge view of one end thereof showing the tip bent to oneside, and

Fig. 5 is a side view of the modified construction of the stiffeningelement.

The body of the corset, represented by the numeral 10, may be of anydesired material in which is sewed in the usual manner the stifleningelements, such as stays 11 of which I have illustrated two, and theclasp steel 12 at the free edge of which I'have shown one only. As myimproved tip may be ap- 1922 Serial No. 564,747.

7 plied equally well to the stays or clasp steels,

I have for brevity employed the term stay in the generic sense asincluding the stay proper or the clasp steel. In the form shown in Figs.1 to 4:, the body of the stay is made of the usual flatthin stripofsteel 13 which in the ordinary construction has its free ends coveredwith a metal cap of some kind. These stays will yield laterally acertain amount but the greater part of the yielding will be at thecenter with very little at the ends so that they are very uncomfortableto the wearer of the corset when she bends over. Referring to myinvention I apply a flexible resilient tip for these stays andprefer toput a tip of this character on each end of the stay. This tip is aflattened coil of wire, preferably a flattened helical spring a few ofthe coils of which are wrapped around the end of the flat body, as shownat 14, and the coils 15'bey0nd the ends of the body are spaced from eachother, as shown, to allow the tipto yield not'only laterally but alsolongitudinally ofthe stay. This tip may be of uniform width but I preferto make the two or three'coils at the end thereof of somewhat smallerdiameter than the remain ing coils, as shown at 15', so as to give aslightly rounded effect to the free end of the tip. The tightly wrappedor securing coils 14 may be Wound around the end of the body portionwithout reducing the width thereof ut I prefer to reduce the ends of thebody, as shown at 16, so that when the resilient tip is applied the staywill be of substantially uniform width throughout. Also ing down too faronto the body portion. When the stay is sewed into the corset, as it isentirely enclosed, the stitching will prevent the tip loosening andmoving off the body portion.

In the modified construct-ion shown in Fig. 5, I form the entire stay ofa single piece of wire in the form of a flattened helical spring orcoil, the body portion 18 having the adjacent coils close together or incontact while the desired number of coils at the end of the stay areseparated, as shown at 19, to provide the resilient tip correspond ingtoy that applied to the stay as shown in Figs. 1 to 4.

When the corset including my improved stays is worn the flat bodyportion of the stays will hold the corset to the figure of y the.shoulders 17 will prevent the tip from push-' the wearer withoutwrinkling the material and thus spoiling the. effect desired, as whenthe wearer bends or sits down instead of all of this bend beingcompensated for in the body of the stays this body portion keeps lwearer, but they will form sufficient support andone which issufiiciently yielding to'nof only not injure the wearer but will causeno discomfort or annoyance. As these tips are made of very flexibleresilient material there is. very little probability of their breakingand causing injury to the wearer. With the ordinary flat steels whenthey break, which is more or less commonythe sharp rough broken endstear through the cloth of the corset and often cause serious injury tothe wearer. This danger is practioallyeliminated in my form of stay. It

will-be apparent from an 'inspection'of the drawing that the free endsof the tips are -,-blunt, and, therefore, will not be lia-ble'to,

. not obtainable with the ordinary straight push their way through thewalls'of the enclosing. material. Immediately the wearer. returns to astraightened posit-ion after bending, the flexible. resilient tip; alsore-' turns to a straightened position at the same time acting as asupport for the busts. When the wearer is'bending over it also takes theweight although at the same time yielding downwardly so as to give arelief stay. It is very sensitive and so gives per.- f eet freedom.Having thus described the nature of my invention, what I claim is:

1. A corset stay comprisinga body por-' tion of resilient materialyielda'ble; laterally of the stay but being substantially .n'onyieldablelongitudinally thereof, and a cushion spring tip at the end of said stayyieldable both laterally and longitudinally of the stay.

coil 1 of wire having yield-able longitudinally thereof, and a resilienttip fo-r said stay composed of a flat p g the adjacent turns spaced fromeach other.

3,. A corset stay "comprising a flat, flexible, resilient body portionadapted to yield laterally but being substantially nonyieldablelongitudinally of the stay, and a resilient tip for said bodyportioncomprising '1 flattened helical spring with the adjacentconvolutions spaced from each other and the convolutions at the free endthereof becomring gradually smaller to give a tapered effect to thefreeend of the tip.

4. A corset stay comprising a fiat, flexible, resilient bodyportionnarrowed adjacent its end and a resilient tip for said bodyportion comp-rising. a flat helical coil of wire with a portion of itsconvolutions embracing said narrowed portion: of the body and theconvolutions beyond this end spaced from each other. V v

5. A corset stay comprising a fiat flexible resilient body portion.substantially nOnyieldable longitudinally thereof,- and a tip for saidbody portion comprising a flat, flexible, resilient coil ofwire ofless-stiffness than the body portion and having the adja centconvolutions thereof spaced-from each other. i

6. A corset stay comp-rising a flat 'fle'xible, resilient body -portinwith the edges removed adjacent its end to provide a por tion narrowerthanthe remainder of the body and to provide shoulders'oEn oppositesides of the body at'the inner end of this narrowed portion", and aseparate resilient tip for said body portion comprising a. flat helicalcoil" of wire with aportionTo-f'its convolutions embracing said narrowedportionof the body with the shoulders limiting its inward movement andthe convolutions beyond this end being spaced from a h e he 1 Intestimony whereof- I affix m signature.

' "RIVEL TOVEIY. 7

